Airlock / De-gas question

[gonzoflick]

So I plan on racking my mead into secondary in a few weeks and then bulk aging. My question i guess is the same for mead as it is my wines that are currently bulk aging. I want to get all the gas out so when i bottle there is no fizz. Ive heard 6 months to a year in the carboy should do this on its own.

How does that work exactly. Since atmospheric pressure is approx 14PSI, once the CO2 in the mead/wine reached that point, wouldnt it just be a neutral system, with the remaining 14psi staying IN the solution?

How does bulk aging get all the gas out and fight this 14PSI?

thanks

 

[fatbloke]

I know, its a misnomer.

It will drop it down to an equilibrium point, which will vary according to ambient temp and atmospheric pressure but some stays in.

Equally, you can gently stir so that any, however slight, sediment is brought back into suspension. That creates the nucleation points for the carbonic acid to attach too and become gaseous CO2 which comes out as bubbles.

Or as I do, use vacuum. You can either connect a pump to the jar/carbouy and apply the vacuum until the internal bubbling stops or you can vacuum rack and that seems to have the same effect......

Don't know/recall the exact science behind that lot (somebody probably will though) but I've tried all those methods and they all work (descending order from top, bottom method seems to work best).